Overview
- President Trump, in a Sunday night Truth Social post followed by comments at Joint Base Andrews, called Pope Leo XIV “WEAK on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy.”
- The broadside followed Leo’s recent pleas to stop the U.S.–Israel war in Iran, including warnings about a “delusion of omnipotence” and a call for talks instead of strikes.
- Trump also claimed without evidence that Leo owes his election to Trump and said he prefers the pope’s brother, turning the dispute personal as well as political.
- The Vatican pushed back on separate reporting of a tense January meeting with the Pentagon, with the Holy See calling that account “completely untrue.”
- Several outlets called the open clash with the first U.S.-born pope unprecedented, raising the stakes for U.S.–Vatican ties as U.S. and Iranian envoys pursue fragile ceasefire talks in Pakistan.